TRANSCRIPT
Hannah France: From what I understand, the Norman City Council approved a purchase of land for $400,000 on Tribe Village Drive to be turned into permanent supportive housing. Can you tell me a little bit about what that project will look like?
Helen Grant: That project will be 12 units of SRO housing. So, that's single resident occupancy. That basically supports somebody with wraparound services in their own space which is hard for folks who are struggling with different issues. And this is for primarily people who are chronically homeless because of their disabilities or mental health or substance abuse.
HF: You mentioned the mental health aspect of it, and when I was looking at the city staff report, they're mentioning the proximity to Thunderbird Clubhouse, which is an organization that supports adults with mental health issues. Is that part of why that location was chosen?
HG: Yes. Its proximity to Thunderbird Clubhouse, which actually, there are residents who already live near Thunderbird Clubhouse that utilize it and apartments in that area. It’s also close to a bus stop and a Walmart.
HF: This is the first that I've heard of the project when this land was approved for purchase, but how long has this been planned?
HG: Since I've been on council, I have seen past discussions where we talked about this project and potential locations. This is just the first real viable location that we can secure and that's why it's come before us.
HF: And so that $400,000 in funding is from ARPA funds that the city received I think in 2021.
HG: Somewhere around there, yeah.
HF: COVID era. So, can you tell me a little bit about that grant and what the funding had to be used for and how this project kind of falls under that grant umbrella?
HG: It's HUD money, so it comes with HUD strings. And the population I mentioned before was definitely who it could be used to serve — people with mental health issues, chronically homeless. It could also have gone towards domestic violence, which isn't to say actually that doesn't have overlap with the other categories.
HF: When we're looking into affordable housing and homelessness at Norman, this has kind of been a topic that the City Council has been working on addressing. How does this align sort of with the City Council's goal to address affordable housing? And is there anything other than this project that you foresee the city Council trying to work on?
HG: There is a lack of SRO housing units in our community. And so, this is definitely meeting a need because we have a gap. It's one-time funding. We thought collectively it would be the best use of that one-time funding. There will be an operator who oversees the administration and support services that work in this project.
Overall, with subsidizing and another affordable housing project with grant funding off of Imhoff in Oakhurst, if I remember correctly — That one is called Crimson Flats. That is 75 units and doesn't necessarily have the wraparound services that this Triad Village development will, but we need both kinds. Then there is potentially, with a TIF district master plan as we develop each TIF district in its project area, there could be money to incentivize affordable housing in Center City. We're dedicating money up to 44 million [dollars] to public infrastructure improvements, hopefully incentivizing some affordable housing or workforce housing in the area.
HF: Councilmember Grant, thank you for taking some time to talk to me about this project. We'll look forward to seeing how it all comes together.
HG: Thank you.
